Month: November 2018

Road accident is a major contributing factor to the number of daily deaths in the world; virtually every day, people die in road accidents. The importance of road
transport to humanity cannot be overemphasized yet the number of deaths resulting from road accidents is undoubtedly worrisome. Painful enough, most of
these accidents are preventable; therefore, the need to be more sensitive to enforcing road safety policies must be ascertained without compromise by all the
agencies concerned.
The road safety agencies in different countries should embark on ‘Operation Reduce All Preventable Road Accidents’. I believe that if all these preventable
accidents can be reduced by half it would go a long way in reducing the number of deaths resulting from road accidents.
More so, to reduce road accidents, drivers’ behaviour while using the road must be modified. If we sincerely desire to reduce the road accidents on our public roads, the need to focus on the driver’s behaviour becomes inevitable. One of the reasons among others for increase in vehicle collision is the bad behaviour of some drivers or motorists. Therefore, one of the ways to minimize the number of vehicles colliding on public roads is to focus on drivers’ behaviour. We must ensure that they drive in a safe manner; in fact, safety must be their top concern and number one priority when using the road and they must ensure that their vehicles are properly maintained.
However, below are the accidents recorded around the world for the year 2016,
2017 and 2018 respectively.
2016
 February 6 – Nepal – Pasang Lhamu bus crash. A passenger bus fell off the Keurini cliff, below the road, into a ravine. Eleven people were killed and twelve others were injured.
 February 18 – Ghana – Bus collision in February 2016, Ghana. Head-on collision between a bus and a truck, 53 killed and at least 23 injured.

 March 20 – Spain – Erasmus bus crash, Valencia. A Tata Hispano passenger bus carrying Erasmus students from several countries home from the Fallas Festival in Valencia collided with a car on the Autovía A-7 motorway, near the town of Freginals. Thirteen foreign female students were killed.
 May 8 – Afghanistan – May 2016 Afghanistan road crash, Moqor district, Ghazni province. Two buses collided with a fuel tanker, killing 73 and injuring 50 more.
 June 7 – United States – In the Kalamazoo bicycle crash, a pickup truck
crashed into a group of cyclists killing five.
 July 19 – Taiwan – 2016 Taoyuan bus fire, Taoyuan. A tour bus caught fire,
killing 24 Chinese tourists, a Taiwanese tour guide, and the driver.
 August 15 – Nepal – 2016 Nepal bus crashes, Birtadeurali, Kavrepalanchok
District and Siddheshwar, Baitadi District. Two separate bus crashes in
Nepal led to the death of 30 people, with 52 injured.
 September 3 – Afghanistan – September 2016 Afghanistan road crash,
Zabul Province. A bus collided with a fuel tanker; 38 people were killed and
28 were injured.
 October 23 – United States – 2016 Interstate 10 tour bus crash, California.
A tour bus collided with the back of a semi-trailer truck, killing 13 while 31 others were injured.
 November 21 – United States – 2016 Chattanooga school bus crash, Chattanooga, Tennessee. An elementary school bus carrying dozens of students crashed, killing 6 students and injuring 23 others.
2017
 January 21 – Italy – 2017 Verona bus crash, Verona. A bus carrying school
from Hungary crashed and caught fire on the A4 near Verona a few minutes after midnight. 17 people were killed and 25 others were injured.
 February 20 – Philippines – 2017 Tanay bus accident, Tanay, Rizal. A tourist bus carrying more than 50 passengers crashed on a curved road after the vehicle apparently lost control and hit an electric post in Barangay Sampaloc in Tanay, Rizal. 15 people were killed and 40 were injured.
 April 18 – Philippines – 2017 Nueva Ecija bus accident, Carranglan, Nueva Ecija. A minibus carrying 77 passengers lost its brakes and fell off a ravine in Carranglan, Nueva Ecija. It is recorded as one of the deadliest road accidents in recent Philippine history, leaving 31 dead and 46 injured.

 June 25 – Pakistan – 2017 Bahawalpur explosion, near Ahmedpur East, Bahawalpur – 219 people were killed and at least 34 injured when a tanker
truck overturned and people rushed towards it to collect the leaking petrol.
 December 14 – France – Perpignan crash, Perpignan. A train crashed into a school bus on a level crossing between Millas and Saint-Féliu-d&#39;Amont in
the Arrondissement of Perpignan. Six pupils were killed and twenty-four others were injured.
 December 31 – Kenya – At least 36 people perished when a truck collided head-on with a bus near Migaa.
2018
 January 2 – Peru – 2018 Pasamayo bus crash. A coach bus plunged off a cliff on a coastal road in Peru, killing 48 people.
 January 18 – Kazakhstan – 2018 Aktobe bus fire, Aktobe. A bus carrying Uzbek migrant workers caught fire in Kazakhstan&#39;s Aktobe region, killing fifty-two people.
 February 10 – Hong Kong – 2018 Hong Kong bus accident. A bus carrying spectators and workers from horse races overturned in the New Territories area. 18 people were killed and 65 were injured.
 April 6 – Canada – Humboldt Broncos bus crash. Sixteen people were killed and 13 others injured when a semi-trailer truck and a bus carrying a junior ice hockey team collided near Tisdale, Saskatchewan, Canada.
 April 22 – North Korea – 2018 North Korea bus accident. A bus in North
Hwanghae Province, North Korea, transporting Chinese tourists fell off a bridge, killing 32 Chinese tourists and 4 North Koreans.
 May 25 – Uganda – 2018 Kiryandongo bus accident. A bus in Kiryandongo District collided with a tractor followed by a truck carrying beer, killing at least twenty-two people.
 October 6 – United States – A stretch limousine failed to stop at an intersection near Schoharie, New York, killing all 18 people in the vehicle and two pedestrians.
 October 10 – Kenya – At least 51 people died when a bus en route from Nairobi to Kisumu went off the road and plunged into a ravine.
Source: Wikipedia

Having gone through the above list of fatal road accidents around the world, one may be tempted to say that road transportation is a necessary evil. It is important
to note that road transportation is not evil neither is it designed to cause evil; it is the human factor that is responsible for most road accidents. And since it is obvious that road transport is inevitable in our daily activities, in fact, it is paramount in virtually every aspect of the economic, social and political activities of a nation as it is a key instrument to promoting, developing, and shaping the national economy. Therefore, the need to reduce unwanted and preventable road accidents must be the equal task of all of us.